Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or World of Warcraft ftw!

Here's the next installment of The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto!

Sakura glanced into the sky, which was a little lighter as she neared the beach. In the distance she could see a shroud of grey mist rising into it; it was not a wholly beautiful sight, but a welcome change to the inky blankness of the sky above Southshore. The edge of the town also proved, as she walked towards the small wharf that comprised it, to be the quietest and least run-down portion of the town. It was the best place for a walk, and indeed, the most peaceful place too. She didn't see anybody near the wharfs, which was probably why Naruto had chosen that spot to train.

She could hear him, just out of sight, on the beach just outside of the town limits. It was not terribly obvious, especially since the whirling of theRasengan was a whistle not unlike that of the howling wind, just a little higher in pitch and far more constant. The crashes were a bit easier to hear, especially since the sea rarely made much sound.

She hopped off the wharf, landing on wet sand, and strolled along the beach, childishly attempting to avoid getting wet when she got to the rocky parts, when she could just as easily walk across the water as hop from rock to rock. Naruto came into view a few moments later.

"Oi!" she called. "Naruto!"

The boy, who was sitting on the wet sand, gasping, looked up, and broke into a wide grin at the sight of her. He waved, but didn't speak until she got over.

"How is he?" the boy asked.

"He hasn't changed," she said, softly. "But it's to be expected."

Naruto nodded. "Bastard," he said, thinking of the neglectful healer.

Sakura knew whom she meant. "Yeah." She paused. "How's the training going?"

"Well enough," said Naruto, shrugging. "I'm getting there."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You are? Already?"

Naruto laughed, and shook his head. "Nope! But it sounds better if I say yes, 'cause then it doesn't look like I've been doing absolutely nothing!"

She was tempted to kick sand in his eyes. She thought better of it, and instead cut out the middleman and kicked him in the side.

"Ow!" he cried. "That hurts!"

"That's probably a lie, too," she said, rolling her eyes. Her smile fell a little. "But it must be pretty difficult, I suppose."

"It is," said Naruto. "It feels totally wrong. I thought I might have had thechakra control to do it, but I guess I'm still way lacking in that area."

"You're pretty good at some types of chakra manipulation," said Sakura.

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe."

Sakura nodded, and then glanced out to sea. She thought she could almost see the sun, through the veil of grey mist, which looked a little lighter for a moment.

"I've been meaning to ask you," said Sakura, after a long pause. "What do you intend to do after this is all over?"

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno. Haven't thought that far ahead."

"You can't stay here, you know, not if you want to become Hokage." Her voice shook a little.

"We always have these serious conversations, don't we?" Naruto mumbled, slumping back onto the ground. "I wish we could have one conversation that wasn't so deep, you know, just a conversation between friends and stuff."

"Okay," said Sakura. "On that topic we discussed in Silvermoon, you never did give me an answer."

"Which topic?" Naruto asked.

"On whether or not you liked Kira."

"I don't like that conversation either. It's also too deep. Besides, I don't know."

"What do you mean?" she asked, glancing at him.

"I just don't know," he finally said. "I don't know if I like her like that or not."

"You're a bad liar," Sakura said.

"I'm not lying!"

Sakura shrugged. "So answer my other question, then."

"I don't wanna think about it," said Naruto. "Not now, at least. It'd be stupid. There's still so much to do."

"I guess this place has grown on you, then?" Sakura said, very quietly. "A long time ago, you would've chosen Konoha in a heartbeat."

"Yeah," said Naruto. "I would've. But a lot has happened, right?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"I'll say this, though…" Naruto glanced at Sakura. "No matter what, I'm still keeping my promise to you, you know? That hasn't changed, and it never will. We'll find that bastard, and bring him back, and make him see just how stupid he was for leaving us." He flashed her a smile.

She returned it, along with a nod, before silence reigned.

A little later, Sai appeared, and found them in that same state.

"What's up?" said Naruto, sitting up.

Sai smiled. "He's awake, it would seem. Though there are some complications."

Once inside, Sakura rushed to the old orc's bed; pale and emaciated, Master Kang was propped up against two pillows and was staring straight forwards, even though there was nothing before him. His face was completely emotionless, which was a remarkable feat considering his condition. Kakashi stood by his bedside with Yamato; the healer hovered in the back, staring uneasily at Kang's conscious form, and frequently staring at Sakura now as well, knowing her part in it.

But the first thing Sakura noticed was not his thin body or his expressionless face; it was the vacancy in his stare, and the cloudiness in his eyes, that told her what Sai had been talking about.

"He's blind," said Naruto, the first one to speak since they arrived. He glanced at Sakura.

The girl gave a helpless shrug. "It couldn't have been caused by the attack, I—"

"No," the old orc said, completely still, so much so that it appeared as if the words had sprung out of nothing. "My eyes have failed me in the last ten years. It is no fault of yours."

"How are you feeling?" Sakura asked, leaning over to brush some sweat from the orc's forehead, as she scanned up and down his body.

"My left toe aches," said Kang. "As does most of my right leg and most of my chest, mostly surrounding the six ribs that were recently repaired, rather shoddily, by that human healer who took care of me before."

Sakura blinked. "I see," she said. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," Kang said. "Perhaps the one who smells like spices would like to fetch me something. He probably works in a kitchen, it's so strong."

Everyone but Naruto sweat-dropped. It took Naruto a little longer to figure out whom the orc was talking about.

"Hey! I'm no servant!" Naruto bellowed.

The orc frowned. "You smell like one. My mistake."

While Naruto silently seethed, Kakashi took a step forwards, and cleared his throat.

"Are you strong enough to answer some questions?"

"As I'll ever be, boy," Kang said.

Kakashi nodded, though he sweat-dropped at the "boy" comment. "What happened on the day Ravenholdt fell?"

"It was far too fast for any of us to expect it. Too amazing, I might add, and too horrible for any living creature to imagine. What happened that day put me in my place, I should think…it put almost all of my comrades in their graves, as well."

"How many attackers were there?"

Kang turned his head very slowly to look at Kakashi. His face remained a stony wall, though his head tilted slightly in thought. "Two."

"Is there anything that you can say about them?"

"I can say many things, though I cannot describe their appearance in words, if that is what you are asking." Finally, a rueful smile appeared on the old orc's face. "I don't see much, after all."

"If I might say," said Yamato. "You don't seem to be too much in grief for your comrades."

"What point is there?" Kang said, with a quiet, wet laugh, which turned into a coughing spree that took a few moments to subside. "We were assassins. They did not die then, because from the moment they became a Ravenholdt assassin, they lost their lives. I cannot grieve for those that I never knew, now can I?"

Yamato nodded, letting Kakashi continue.

"Do you know where they came from?"

"No," said Kang. "But I have an idea, especially since there have been tales of at least one of them—the greedy one, I should think."

"Greedy one?" said Kakashi.

"He spoke of money as he fought, commenting on the riches that Ravenholdt had. I daresay it no longer has them. The other one spoke of divine judgment, and was very loud, and the greedy one told him to shut up a number of times." Kang turned his head back to staring straight forwards. "Girl—bring me a cloth. I think I might dirty these sheets with my phlegm."

Sakura nodded, and fetched one from her bags. She held it out to him, and he immediately grasped it without a single fumble or tentative grab. He coughed into it twice, and wiped the green spittle away.

"You said there might be tales of this one, then?" said Kakashi.

"More reports. It is theorized that he is connected to, perhaps even a governing member of, the Syndicate."

Naruto's ears perked at that. "You mean those thieves and criminals that are found all over this place? He's part of them?"

"Perhaps," Kang said.

"Where would we find this Syndicate?" Kakashi asked.

"They have a headquarters to the west, in a run-down castle near the bottom of one of the mountains. They generally keep to themselves, though recently they have been acting up quite spectacularly—making raids every so often on smaller towns in the area and moving into Arathi and the Alterac Mountains."

Kakashi frowned, but nodded to this. "Is there anything else you could tell us that might lead us to find these two?"

"One is large, but treads softly," said Kang. "The greedy one. It's obvious he has a lot to lose. The other is brash and moves like a juggernaut, killing anything in his path and letting anything in his path strike him. Both of them stink of blood, but one is old blood and the other is very fresh. One is quick, the other is slow. Both of them are devils in human form."

Naruto exchanged a confused glance with Sakura, but Kakashi seemed to understand, as he simply nodded.

"We'll let you rest."

"Not too long. I don't want to be kept in that human's care much longer."

"That won't be a problem," said Sakura. "We'll move you somewhere else, as soon as you are ready."

"Good."

Kang sat back, and seemed to fall immediately asleep, as Kakashi guided them away from the bed to the opposite end of the room, where he gathered them around him.

"I want to check out this Syndicate," said Kakashi, "but I'm afraid to leave Kang-san here unguarded."

"Because of him?" Naruto asked, nodding to the doctor, who still hovered near them, like a rat in sight of food.

"That and other reasons," said Kakashi. "So I only want a few of you to go."

"I'll go," said Yamato. "I'll take Sai with me."

Sai blinked, and looked at Yamato. "Ah? Really? I didn't think you'd be able to stand being near me much longer, Yamato-san."

Yamato ignored him. "That'll leave all of you to guard Kang-san. Besides, it'd be easier for us to enter, if there are only two—they'll probably be used to espionage, especially if their leader is who Kang-san thinks he is."

"Fine," said Kakashi, nodding briskly. "I want you to leave immediately. The rest of the time we'll spend here—maybe we can get some more out of Kang-san. Naruto, I also want you to tell all that we heard to Tsuwabuki, so that she can relay it."

"Right," said Naruto.

Yamato nodded. "We'll head out then," he said, looking at Sai. "Get our stuff. Make sure we have enough supplies."

Sai gave an obedient nod, said goodbye to Sakura and Naruto, and quickly departed. Yamato did not stay much longer than to talk with something in private to Kakashi, before leaving as well.

"Naruto," he said, as he left, "Take it easy on your training, and try not to use the Kyuubi's chakra, if you can. We have yet to fully hone your use of it, remember."

"Right," said Naruto, with a nod. "Wasn't planning to anyways."

Yamato nodded, and was gone.

Sakura returned to Kang's bed, while Naruto and Kakashi went to one of the taverns to get food to bring back. The sky above remained the same drab, stinking black, but in the distance, far out at sea, Naruto could see the shining sunset, just peaking through the thick clouds and mist. There was a warm breeze, which lifted Naruto's spirits slightly, as they ordered the food and went to sit down at a small corner booth to wait for it.

"How's the training going?" asked Kakashi. "I've been meaning to ask."

"Good," said Naruto. "But slow." He flexed his right hand, and grit his teeth at the stiffness and pain he felt in it. The cuts and bruises on it had mostly healed and had become nothing more than small lined scabs, but it still ached.

"Do you believe it's possible?"

"Dunno," said Naruto. "Won't stop me from trying."

Kakashi nodded. "No, I don't suppose it would." He smiled a little. "One of your better points, I suppose, in a way."

Naruto flashed him back a bright grin. "I think so!"

"There's something else I've been meaning to ask."

"About what?" Naruto already had a feeling, from the man's tone and the slight narrowing of his exposed eye.

"Sasuke."

Naruto's face scrunched up in annoyance. "What about him?"

"You still intend to do what you promised?"

"Of course."

"No matter what? Sasuke will have changed a lot in these past few years. You have as well. Being under Orochimaru's wing will not be without its effects, and no matter how strong-willed Sasuke is, there is a good chance that some of what Orochimaru preaches may reach him. You already know that they both share views on power."

Naruto looked away, across the tavern, watching the scant few patrons it held. Two men sat in one of the corners, gambling, and another sat with a whore, and was feeling her up and making it obvious of his intentions, despite the fact that she looked quite bored. A maid was serving another table of three men, and that was it, so Naruto wasn't able to distract himself for too long before he had to respond.

"I guess it doesn't matter," he said. "Sasuke might have changed, but I don't care. I'm still going to bring him back, and fulfill my promise, no matter what. He has a lot to answer for."

Kakashi nodded, and was silent for a long while.

"Hey, Kurenai-sensei," Kiba called, "you sure you should be up there?"

The dark-haired woman glanced down. "Don't coddle me, Kiba. I'm not a child."

"No, you're not," he affirmed, with a nod, "but you'll give Asuma-sensei a heart-attack one of these days if you don't take care of yourself more, especially in your condition."

Kurenai sighed, before casting her eyes back over the city. She had gone outside to get away from this—though she meant well, Hinata was horribly overprotective; she'd make a great mother, however. Shino was no better, though he didn't say anything and just did things that Kurenai could easily do herself, and made it clear to her that she shouldn't be doing anything in her condition.

They acted like she was made of glass—she was only a month pregnant.

"Come on down! Akamaru and I will take this place!"

"I'm fine, Kiba," she called. "Just because you're a chuunin now, does not make you in any way my superior or my equal. You should be listening to me."

"What? I can't hear you!" said the boy with ears as sharp as a dog's.

She twitched. She wondered why she had wanted to be pregnant in the first place. If any of her children were like this….

Finally realizing that she wasn't going to come down, Kiba did the next best thing. He took a flying leap and mounted the wall in two steps, landing neatly beside her, perfectly balanced and upright. Akamaru landed not a second later, and sat on his haunches, panting and watching her.

"Been up to anything?" Kiba asked, grinning at her.

"No," said Kurenai. "Everything is quiet."

"Not in the castle, apparently," said Kiba. "Hinata told me something was happening in the chapel—they think they discovered something."

"Oh?" said Kurenai, glancing back towards the castle. "Is anyone with them?"

"Hinata, I think."

Kurenai nodded, and said nothing more.

Kiba waited a while in silence, and then asked, point blankly, "Why'd you take this mission, Kurenai-sensei?"

"What do you mean?"

"Asuma-sensei, I doubt, would've wanted you to come. So why would you put yourself in danger, willingly, when you've got something like that…" he motioned at her stomach, "…to protect?"

Kurenai said nothing for a while. "You weren't even supposed to know," she then said.

"Hinata's eyes are pretty good aren't they?"

Kurenai nodded. "It's easy to understand why I came."

Kiba frowned. "How so?"

"I suppose I'm a bit scared…" she said. "Afraid of what's to come. It seems even more terrifying than putting my life on the line. I know something big is going to change for me—I'm just scared of that, because I know it's going to happen, and I can do nothing to change that. And it's going to be completely new, as well, so even though I know technically what's going to happen, I don't know how I'm going to handle it."

Kiba gave a little nod, and a shrug. "How much did you bully Asuma-sensei into letting you go?"

"Not so much bullying as limiting the time he has left," said Kurenai, with a slight smile.

Kiba frowned, tilted his head, understood, and gagged.

Kurenai laughed. "Such a child—"

Kiba's head suddenly snapped to the side. Akamaru began to growl. Both of them sniffed the air.

Kurenai looked at him. "What is it?"

"Something bad," said Kiba. "Really bad. I smell a lot of blood somewhere, getting really close." He narrowed his eyes. "It's fresh, too, and there're are two of them, I think. Whoever they are, though, I've never smelt anything like them—and they don't smell friendly at all." He nodded to Akamaru. "He says the same thing."

Kurenai stood up. "Where is it?"

Kiba waited for a moment. He looked down, and to the right.

"Here, pretty soon."

"What is it?" Kira said, jumping up. Kylia had come to the table, her eyes wide, and Tsuwabuki was looking at all of them, wagging her long, beautiful tale, and waiting for the ancient priest to speak. Benedictus had his hands on the table, and he had not stood up yet; he was staring at the book in front of him, where Kira could just see the same image she had just reproduced emblazoned in a column of the page. Her breathing gradually quickened, partially from excitement at the possibility of one of the identities of the killers being revealed, and partially from fear as she gazed into Benedictus' grave and impossibly deep eyes. The old man did not move for a moment, and the room became cavernous with the tense silence, as they waited for him to speak, to do anything.

Finally, he looked up. His eyes met Kira's.

"Send for Coutrend. I want him to be here for this."

Kira nodded immediately to Kylia. The girl hurried off, and not five minutes later, returned with Coutrend in tow, the man looking for once less cynical and bitter and more inquisitive and excited. Following him was the dark-haired kunoichi, Hinata, whom Kira had only spoken to a few times she had arrived, and who reminded her a little of Kylia, though Kylia denied it whenever she brought the thought up. Hinata entered no further than the door, standing a little off to the side and watching everyone with her pale lavender eyes. They caught Kira's briefly, and the girl gave her a shy smile. Very like Kylia indeed.

Coutrend swept behind Benedictus, snapping his eyes to the page. His eyes immediately went wide.

"Of course," he said. His lip curled. "The Forbidden Faith."

"It is why we could think of it, but not name it—it is taboo to mention its name," said Benedictus. "I had a feeling, but I could not be sure, nor could I picture that symbol until you drew it for me, Kira."

"Why?" Kira said.

"Taboo," said Benedictus. "Of the highest order—such so that even if you can remember some details of it, unless the name is written right in front of you, which is difficult, since even writing the name is physically impossible for human hands, and unless you possess some other physical evidence of its existence, such as that symbol, which is even more important to the faith than its name, you will not be able to name it or grasp hold of its concept any more than you can hold water in your hands. The taboo was placed on it by the Kirin Tor and the Church of Holy Light, during the end of the Third War."

"Even if it's written in that book, you didn't know it was there?" Kira asked.

"Even the symbol is easy to gloss over, unless it is written in front of you, since, as I said, that symbol is even more important that it's name. But give me a break, I am old, and my eyes are not what they used to be," he said, with a slightly bitter snort.

"What is it, then?" Kylia asked.

"Jashin," Benedictus said. "The Evil Heart. The utter opposite to the faith of the Holy Light, which we all follow here. More a cult, if you will, but one that was more effective than anything we might do, and had it lasted any longer than it did, might have soon surpassed our own faith."

Kira frowned. "I've never heard of it."

"Then the taboo did its intended job," said Benedictus. "It was a horrible practice that extended from the very beginning of Holy Light worship. Our religion calls for us to use all that is good in humanity—it requires faith in them and in ourselves, and it requires us to uphold the Three Virtues—respect, tenacity, and compassion—and work with them to make the world better, and to enhance our connection with the world and the universe. It requires the utmost dedication and wisdom, because people are not perfect and must strive to make themselves better if they want to help others and the world. Now, Jashin is the opposite of that—they call all of this pointless, because it is attempting to deny what is in every person's heart, no matter who they are or what they look like—the force of evil. They worship this primal feeling, something that no matter how dedicated one is, one cannot completely rid oneself of it. It is something eternal in their eyes, and eternity is not something that the Holy Light has faith in. The hearts of men are constantly in flux, and can constantly change—they can go from a hero to a monster as easily as ice can become water. The followers of Jashin believe it is a crime to deny that evil in one's heart, which is the only thing eternal in our lives."

"But," said Kira, "that's not true. We don't deny evil in our hearts."

"Yes," said Benedictus. "But people will always convince themselves that they are right, no matter what. Perhaps they understand this, but choose to ignore it, because to them it is wrong."

As pathetic as that sounded, Kira knew it to be true. Why else would the people of her kingdom choose to ignore the kindness of the other races, and embrace their older hatred of them? She shook her head. "This explains who they are, I suppose. But what else is there?"

"Jashin was destroyed," said Benedictus, softly.

"What? How?" Kira asked.

"I do not know. Their headquarters were in Lordaeron—they were among the few to have survived the undead Plague's effects, and the Scourge's coming to that place. They were hired by both the Alliance and Horde as mercenaries in previous wars—for quite a small amount of money, incidentally, because one of their beliefs is that they can never go a day without spilling blood, and whenever they enter battle, they can never leave their opponents alive. They worshiped slaughter as we worship compassion. Another reason was because they have an ability which aptly fits their belief in the eternity in their hearts—their priests had the ability to stay alive, no matter how many wounds they took."

"W-what?" Kira gaped. "But how—?"

"Again, I do not know," said Benedictus. "Until now, of course, but I'll answer your first question before I say. Sometime after the end of the last war, a report arrived that spoke of a fire in the mountains near Alterac in Lordaeron. Further investigation revealed that the fire stemmed from a small village—the village composed entirely of Jashin worshippers."

He took a heavy breath. "Most shocking about this, of course, was not that there was a fire; but that every one of the priests had been slain. Understandably, it was disturbing because as far as records of them go, not a single Jashin priest's death had ever been confirmed. Certainly they have fallen in battle, but that never lasts long."

"But, how can that be possible?" said Kira again. "They're all human, right?"

"Oh yes. Only humans could be capable of such a philosophy," Benedictus said.

Kira knitted her brows together, wanting to say something opposing that, but decided against it and instead said, "So if they're all dead, then who killed them?"

"I knew not at the time," said Benedictus. "Not that I cared much, however—I was understandably overjoyed that such an awful practice had been eliminated; such irony that they'd been as cruelly slaughtered as any of their victims made me a happy man—now however, it is clear to me that they were slain by one of their own."

"What gives you that idea?"

"Just a hunch," said Benedictus. "Description of their demise was unclear, at best, though most of it likely comes from my unwillingness to read further after hearing that they had been killed."

Kira stared at him. "That doesn't seem like you."

"It was me," said Benedictus. "You'll find I'm a very vindictive person, especially when it comes to my faith. I do not like anyone calling my faith hypocrisy, which is exactly what those Jashin priests would have done. They despised the Holy Light, more than anything. It should come to no surprise that I despise them just as much—and therefore you understand why I am irritated that one of them yet remains."

"But you haven't said why you think it was these people," said Kira. "Was one of their practices connected to how Magni died?"

"Quite," said Benedictus. "They had an ability that allowed them to use their immortal bodies to their advantage—they used a curse to bind their lives and bodies to a victim, meaning that any damage caused to them will be reflected onto those they have cursed. It is not unlike thevoodoo fetishes created by the trolls."

Kira nodded. "Is this linked to their immortal bodies?"

"Once, I would have said no, but now, I am certain of it. It is in fact the cause, and it was Kakashi's discovery that proved it."

"Wha—" Kira began.

The door burst open. Captain Eric and a guard rushed in, looking as if the world was ending around them.

"What?" Benedictus said snapping his ancient head in their direction, his eyes full of fiery life.

"We're being attacked!" Captain Eric nearly shouted, in desperation. "In the front courtyard, two of the shinobi and most of my guards have engaged battle against two attackers of unknown origin!"

"Two?" said Kira, "how—?"

"What is the status?" Benedictus interrupted.

"We're losing!" said Captain Eric. "We must get Kira-sama as far away as we can!"

Sasuke remembered everything as it had happened, but it now seemed no more real, and no more important, than the plot of a fairy tale. He did not care about it any longer, yet it haunted his mind and he didn't know why. He could remember the emotions he felt, but he could no longer feel them, no longer reenact them. Everything that had happened was as clear in his mind as if it had happened yesterday, and yet it served as nothing more than a reminder of what he now was, and would be for all eternity. It was almost as if it had not been him, as if he had been watching a play unfold, the beginning of a masterpiece whose ending he could not foresee, and like those forced to attend the show because of family members or friends urging them to, could not connect with the characters and feel their pain; because in the end it was just make believe and they could be doing better things than caring about people who don't exist. It felt like that, even though he knew it was true.

He had taken them to a place that even now, Sasuke could not quite describe in visual terms. It had been too…awesome was the word, though he knew he would have hated to describe it like that once. He had never been to a place—not even his own home stained in his family's blood—that had projected such a singular, overriding emotion.

Fear.

It was not an overpowering fear, and nor was it sublime; it was an icy fear that dulled the senses without igniting them, that crept into his body and filled his veins and ran up his spine into his brain, touching every nerve fiber and cell in his body so that it shook without him even noticing, so that his entire body knew that he was afraid, even when he had deluded himself into thinking that it was just the cold, no matter the number of layers he wore above his bare flesh. He had even entertained, briefly, the idea that he had been excited, and was shaking with that. Who wouldn't be, with such power being offered?

But he had been wary of it. He had plans, plans that required power, yes, but power of his own and no one else's. He would see what this recent ally of Orochimaru had to offer. If it were not to his taste, then he would merely have to execute the plan a little earlier than he had intended. He could pull it off—he already knew he was stronger than Orochimaru. He had always been, especially with his eyes. They were eyes that, true, couldn't compare to his brother's, but they were the eyes of the Uchiha, and the Uchiha were the greatest clan in history. But Sasuke knew it wasn't his eyes that gave him such strength, but his desire, and that was something that Itachi did not have; which was why in the end, Itachi would lose.

But that hadn't mattered, in the end.

He had been taken to a place which seemed like a dream, now—he could scarcely remember its details, only recalling brief flashes of its general form: a limitless spire of ice and snow, stretching up into blackened skies. He did not remember entering, or leaving, and only recalled one part of it, the very top—a place that looked across the entire world, from which everything could be seen; like the Hokage's tower in Konoha, from which the Hokage could see the entire village.

A throne, he recalled. One of ice and pain, darkness and death.

From there, he remembered the screams.

They hadn't always been there, but they gradually came like the building wind, howling into his ear ever louder. He had been resistant to them at first, passed them off as tricks played by his mind and the wind, and then as nothing more than pathetic attempts to frighten him, and finally when they had become so loud that ignoring them was impossible, and the fear they had carried had leaked into every bit of Sasuke's soul, he had used only his bare will to stop himself from screaming in terror and fleeing the place in a heartbeat.

The fear was unnatural, powerful, impossible to ignore. The screams came in a deluge and Sasuke had almost been swept away.

He recalled amidst the screams, a figure, or perhaps two, or three, or many more, he couldn't really say. It had been dark and the figure had had no distinguishing features that he could remember, other than eyes that glowed with a light colder than absolute zero.

That's when things became disjointed, became almost impossible to remember. He couldn't remember, really, other than brief flashes. The figure had come to him. The screams, the screams! He heard everyone: his mother, his father, Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, his grandparents and his friends and everything! They screamed in his ear and he couldn't get rid of them no matter how he shook and roared for them to get away, no matter how hard he cried, and tore at himself to distract from the terrible, terrible fear!

The figure had come towards him. Right next to him. Eyes like blank white sheets staring down at him, freezing him, stopping him, but making him shiver more and scream louder, joining in the chorus of pain around him. He had looked up to it, felt it, felt the nothing that it was. He hadn't been able to take it.

He had wanted, in that moment, to die.

That thought had stuck with him. Others had not. The next few moments had been pain; awful, black pain. The screams had come louder. The fear had taken him over, consumed him, he had become lost in it.

Then he remembered it speak, hearing it above the screeching of his mother's final moments, before his brother had killed her.

"You are ours."

Then, everything had frozen. The fear, the pain, the despair, the hatred. It had stopped, like an old watch, and then everything was gone. His heart had stopped, frozen, covered in a sheet of ice an inch thick, and everything it had contained was sealed away inside it, gone forever behind a cage of ice like diamond.

Now it was like a dream: a dream where he felt nothing. Where his goal was laid out before him, and all he needed to do was walk it until he met his brother's eyes and stabbed him through the heart.

It was amazing.

The figure had gone. But it whispered to him, now. Whenever it did, he could see it again, always as if he were dreaming it.

He glanced down at the small grouping of dirty, decrepit houses that made up Southshore. This was a dream, too. He could do whatever he wanted in this dream, kill as many people as he liked, and in the end, nothing would happen. It was beautiful—a dream that he could control no matter what.

It was a dream where he didn't have to feel the pain of life; where he could do anything, where he didn't have to care.

"Is everyone ready?" he said, softly into the air, which touched his skin but he did not feel it.

The group beside him all nodded. There was a flash of white teeth from his left as Suigetsu grinned and hefted his sword. To his right, Jugo's eyes were already widening, and his breath growing heavy, as dark markings began to bleed onto his face and neck and arms. Karin pressed up her glasses, beside Jugo, and nodded with a weak smile to Sasuke, which then bloomed into a horrible smirk.

"Good," he said, and leapt from his perch, speeding down the hill towards the town, making a seal with his hands.

'Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Scourge'

The shouts began at a little past midnight.

Then began the bells—tolling awfully in the distance, but audible for miles around. Even though they were sequestered in the infirmary, it did not take long for them to hear, and witness, the most activity the town had even displayed. It came alive, with shouts and screams and frantic movement in the streets. Naruto and Sakura moved from the bed to the doorway, where Kakashi stood, staring out at the crowds of people pouring into the streets—whores, beggars, criminals, and the few ordinary folk, all rushing in a steady stream towards the beach.

"What's going on?"

Naruto knew before anyone else. A horrible smell reached his nose (which was stronger than anyone else's) and it was terrible familiar: rotten flesh and old blood, the damp smell of rotting lemons and mildew—the smell of death.

The Scourge.

"Shit!" Naruto said, bounding into the street. "Let's go! This place is in big trouble!"

"What is it?"

"Scourge!" Naruto shouted, gagging. The smell grew worse every second, as they approached. "They're coming!" Coldness began to form in his limbs, as he moved through the streets, towards the town's entrance, Sakura and Kakashi fast on his heels. A millions things ran through his mind, the first of them wondering where they were coming from, and the second wondering why they had come now of all times. He rushed until his eyes burnt from the noxious smell, which seemed far worse than usual, and he suddenly stopped, aghast, when his eyes fell on something ahead of him.

Rolling like an evening fog, a green mist was slowly pouring into the town. The guards at the forefront, all in a line—the guards that did their job, which were few in Southshore—were in fits on the ground, gagging and clutching at their throats. Naruto could see sores beginning to appear on their flesh, eating away at it, making it pale and dead, as if they had died weeks ago.

Naruto's eyes widened. The fog grew thicker, as it approached, and even though he had never laid eyes on it before, he knew what it was. It stank to him, stank of things that he had smelled before in other places, in other forms, but the smell was just the same, and so was the feeling. An unbearable coldness, a chill in his entire being, and a fear that seemed entirely unreasonable.

The coldness grew worse.

"Shit," he said, and then louder, "Get back! We gotta get outta here!"

Sakura and Kakashi stopped at his side. "Why?" asked Kakashi.

"That's Plague," said Naruto. "Undead Plague, the stuff that makes the Scourge."

Sakura looked at him wildly. "We have to go!"

"I know!" Naruto said. "We have to get everyone out, as fast as we can—away from the city, you know?" He raised his hands, making a seal.

'Kage Bunshin no jutsu'

When the crowd of clones appeared, all around them, Naruto quickly gave his directions: find anyone straying behind, and get them out and away, and lead the ones as far from the town as possible. They scattered, immediately, flying into the crowds and through the alleyways, into the heart of the town. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi then moved back, towards the infirmary, as fast as they could.

The airborne Plague continued to creep into the town, moving ever so slowly, like the final moments of sun before night blanketed the sky.

At the infirmary, Sakura quickly tried to rouse Kang, while Kakashi—shortly and without much patience, told the healer of the situation. The man, without any further ado, vanished through the door and into the quickly dwindling crowd of people. Neither Kakashi nor Naruto troubled themselves to think of his fate any longer.

Sakura was getting nowhere in trying to rouse Kang. "Please, you must get up," she said.

"I cannot," the old orc said, tiredly. "There are limits to what I can do, girl. I…cannot…get up."

"Naruto!" she said, turning quickly, desperately. "Help me!"

Naruto created more clones, half a heartbeat later, and they converged around the bed. Gently as they could, though accompanied by as much protest as the old orc could manage, they lifted Kang up, and went towards the door. Sakura quickly grabbed all of their things, mostly her medical tools, and tore after them, into the street.

It was deserted.

Two clones returned to Naruto's side. They disappeared in bursts of smoke, and Naruto nodded.

"Everyone's out," he said. "As far as I can tell. My clones are leading them down the beach."

"We have to go after them," said Kakashi.

He was right—the Plague fog was already well past the town limits, and was descending the street as slowly as a celebratory parade. But now, Naruto could see, there were shapes in it, drifting as slowly and ethereally as the fog itself. But he could see their eyes within—mirror-like and horrible, showing nothing but the hatred and hunger in all men. Behind them, there were bigger shapes as well, trundling along in slow, methodical strides; grotesque silhouettes in the darkness.

They ran. As strong as they were, Naruto knew they could not face something like this. Not alone. Naruto fell behind everyone else, continually glancing back into the fog as it crept closer, and though it terrified him with every look, it made him think.

Why weren't they attacking?

It didn't make any sense to just roll in, and let everyone leave. He quickened his pace a little, a sudden worry building in his gut. Could they be leading them to a trap? He unconsciously burst one of the clones, far off. He saw nothing— everything was fine. So why was he so frightened, and what were they doing?

He turned around again, just once, and caught something in the fog that made him stop, but not voluntarily. His body just seemed to seize up, on its own, as if shocked by an unknown source of electricity, and his eyes became fixed on this one spot in the green fog, where he could see a solid figure amongst the shambling, hazy shades. He could barely see it, it was little more than a shadow, but a familiar smell reached his nose, and even in the gloom, he could see the eyes as bright as if they were right there, staring not two inches away from his face. They were eyes that he'd seen in his dreams for two years, eyes that angered him, and scared him at the same time, but also drew his pity, and a deep nostalgia for a time when things seemed so much better.

They were the eyes of a devil, but at the same time, they were the eyes of his best friend, and his brother.

Sasuke.

Almost as he thought that name, the figure stepped from the green haze, fully formed. He wore a black cloak with furry, white trim, underneath which Naruto could see a skin-tight black, sleeveless shirt, and black pants with wide, flaring legs and black sandals tied all the way up to his knees. His face and his skin were paler than death, almost translucent, even with the little light that was shed upon them, so that Naruto could see every black vein in his body, which seemed to jump out like hideous tattoos. Sasuke's hair was still jet black, but longer, wilder than before, nearly covering his porcelain skin and frozen, emotionless face; with its two, blaring, devil-likeSharingan staring straight out at Naruto as if from another world.

Sound seemed to drift away from Naruto. He couldn't hear anyone, or anything, and even in that moment of staring into Sasuke's eyes, he found it hard to even feel anything.

But inevitably reality took hold again. Naruto snapped from his daze, and the sound came back. Sometime ago, Sakura had stopped and noticed as well. She was by his side, or just a little behind him. Kakashi was standing on his other side.

"Naruto."

The single word that Sasuke uttered was enough to make Naruto recoil a little. It sounded like Sasuke, but different, as if from a dream you could barely recall. It awakened so many familiar emotions, but it brought entirely new ones as well, worse ones, that Naruto had trouble understanding as he stared into Sasuke's unblinking eyes.

"S-Sasuke," he said.

"I didn't expect," Sasuke said, softly, like the wind. "To see you here."

Naruto twitched. He began to shake.

"Yeah. You neither."

"Sakura," said Sasuke, with the barest of nods. "Kakashi-sensei."

"Sasuke," said Kakashi.

Sakura couldn't bring herself to speak.

It was about that time, that the horror fully struck Naruto. He nearly staggered, nearly toppled, nearly burst into tears, but instead he simply screwed up his face into the fiercest, growling glare he could affix without the Kyuubi's aid, though there might have been some anyways. Naruto's face seemed less human, when he became that angry, and he felt it too.

He spoke shortly, quietly, but each word carried the emotional force of a thousand explosive notes.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

Sasuke seemed to consider the question, though his face did not change from its frozen, ice-statue smoothness.

"What does it look like, dobe?" Sasuke said. Even without hint of a smile, the words still seemed cocky, like the old Sasuke. But the words that followed, though said in the same tone, were so wrong that Naruto's anger was blown away for a moment.

"I'm going to destroy this town, and everyone in it," he said. "Probably turn them into zombies, too."

Knowledge suddenly pounded itself into Naruto's head like carvings on a sculpture. His clones had been destroyed. He turned wildly.

"The beach!" he cried. "They're being attacked!"

Though Kakashi did not react immediately, as he was still recovering from Sasuke's horrible words, when they did hit him he bolted. He called Sakura without a thought.

Sakura lingered, simply staring at Sasuke in astonishment. He did not look at her.

Not once.

She went with Kakashi, automatically, her legs carrying her as far as possible from the source of the pain that she was now feeling, so deep inside her that no healing jutsu could ever reach it.

Naruto stayed, staring straight at Sasuke. The other boy did not move, still as a corpse, for only a second more after Kakashi and Sakura had gone. Then, as the Plague continued to roll forwards, Sasuke vanished.

But Naruto saw him—he was fast, incredibly so, but not the fastest Naruto had ever seen and it allowed him to react quicker than Sasuke could attack—Naruto's sword met Sasuke's in a ring of steel, causing bright sparks to fly and both boys to emit a grunting sound. Naruto could feel no breath from Sasuke, even though he was standing right next to him, glaring into his Sharingan eyes.

It enraged him.

He pushed Sasuke off with all of his strength, accompanied by a boost of kinetic energy from Sasuke's strike reflected back through Naruto's blade. Thrown back, Sasuke scarcely had to time to recover before Naruto was upon him.

Naruto's blade moved so quickly that even with his eyes, Sasuke had trouble seeing it, and Naruto, move. The boy was generating a steady stream of elemental chakra, running it through his entire body in a fashion that Sasuke had never seen anyone duplicate before. It made Naruto incredibly fast, and it only became clear to Sasuke that this speed was a problem when Naruto got past his defense and smashed the flat of his blade into Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke fell back, and this allowed Naruto to move in, hardly visible, and knee the boy in the stomach, and then follow it with a brutal blow with the hilt of his sword, smashing into Sasuke's pristine, snow-white face. It hit with such power that Sasuke flew back, the blow jarring his senses.

But he recovered, lightning-quick.

There was no pain.

The beach was a massacre.

The bodies of townsfolk were strewn everywhere, none of them intact. The ones that lived had fled into the rolling waves, screaming in an attempt to get away from the gigantic abominations that assailed them. The beasts lumbered as fast as they could, swiping their deadly weapons in every direction, taking only one blow to fell a human in a spray of blood, and then laughing greedily before finding another screaming, puny flesh-bag to kill. Ghouls of every size and shape feasted on the bodies of men and women, howling and snarling like wild animals as they reduced the bodies to nothing more than pools of blood, bone and skin on the sand, as if they were rotten fruit fallen from a great height and splattering on the ground below in a pile of stinking refuse.

The screams were the worst part, however.

Sakura had never seen anything like it. When she arrived, both she and Kakashi paused before rushing in, overwhelmed by the horror of what they saw. Sakura nearly vomited on the spot. The blood—strewn in such quantities that the sand color was outmatched; the bodies—littering every corner of the visible beach, ripped and torn into grisly piles of bloody flesh and half-eaten intestine and splattered brain and mangled skeleton; and the smell—bloody, decay, excrement and the salt of the sea air mixed into something so disgusting that she nearly fell to her knees right there.

Kakashi gripped her sternly, preventing this. "Don't. They need our help."

He hurtled down to incline to the beach without another word, and Sakura found the strength to follow a second later.

"W-wait," said Kira, "How can this be…?"

"There's no time!" said Captain Eric. "We must get you to safety, Kira-sama, at once! There is no point in attempting to fight them now!"

"Are the attackers human, or what?" said Benedictus, who seemed calmer than he should have been.

"Human, I think," said Eric.

"What do you mean by 'I think'?"

"There are unnatural," said Eric. "Like monsters, they just don't die! They're more like Scourge than anything!"

Benedictus swept his head between Eric and Kira, and then nodded quickly. "Their target is doubtlessly you, Kira, though I don't know why they have decided such a direct route in. It would be pointless to initiate a direct attack, especially when they haven't even bothered to hide their forms, it seems to me. Why would they launch such a direct attack, when their goal is to cause a disruption in the alliance?"

"I don't know!" Eric said, "but they won't be stopped for long! Kira-sama must be taken somewhere else!"

In the back, Hinata had activated her Byakugan, and was seeking out the status of the battle.

"Calm down," said Benedictus. "Getting riled up will do you no good. Kylia, Miss Hinata," he said, glancing briefly at Hinata, "You will—" He stopped, because it took but a second for him to register the look on her face, and the sudden rigidity of her form, to know something was wrong. He then stepped forwards as she moved, and his hand flashed out to strike Captain Eric in the middle of his chest, emitting a burst of golden light and Eric flew back. Hinata hurtled herself at the guard who had come in with Eric, slamming her palm into his chest as he spun towards her, fury in his eyes. He was thrown back by theJyuuken strike, plowing into the pews.

Kira let out a strangled cry, her heart reacting before her head. "What are you—?"

"Kylia, get Kira as far away from here as you possibly can," said Benedictus. "Coutrend, Miss Hinata and I shall hold them here."

Tsuwabuki was growling, and backing away towards the door. She stared at Captain Eric's dead form, her amber eyes growing narrow, her hackles rising.

Kira sobered. This couldn't be right. Neither Benedictus nor Hinata would be so reactive without reason, so why…? She cast her eyes on the guard, sprawled amidst the pews, but there wasn't a guard there any more, but a man dressed in a black cloak adorned with red clouds, who was already standing up, grimacing and spitting up blood all over his chin.

"Fuck!" he snapped. "The fuck was that? Little bitch!" he growled. He reached for the weapon on his back, three-bladed scythe, and glared at the fallen Captain Eric. "The jig's up, Kakuzu!"

Captain Eric didn't move.

"The hell? You dead, Kakuzu?" the man said, angrily, and now confused. "Shit! What a fuckin' waste!"

"No doubt," said Benedictus, calmly. "You are the Jashin worshipper." He frowned, also noticing the headband that hung around the man's neck, three diagonal slashes with a long, crude, horizontal cut bisecting them.

The silver-haired man stared at him. "So you know, eh? Good, that saves me of telling you how much I hate your faith, and how much I'm going to enjoy killing you." He reached for the three-bladed scythe on his back, which hung on a long chain attached somewhere beneath his cloak.

Kylia gripped Kira by the arm. "K-Kira, let's go."

Kira nodded, and let herself be pulled towards the door, Tsuwabuki loping at her heels, as Benedictus scoffed. The old man pulled back his golden sleeves and flexed his wrinkled, but powerful hands, and took a step towards theJashin priest. "I'm going to enjoy this, as well. I have never had an opportunity to meet one of you in combat, and I'm glad that will change, because I also despise your meaningless faith."

"Meaningless!" the man roared. "Fuckin' heathen! I'll tear you apart!"

"We'll see," said Benedictus.

The three-bladed scythe blurred as the man closed the distance, striking downwards and slamming instead into a golden shield conjured by Benedictus. The old man then thrust out a hand, making a portion of the shield bulge out and fire like a bullet, though the man ducked beneath and suddenly launched himself forwards, releasing his grip on the scythe and letting it fly past Benedictus, towards Kira.

Hinata shot towards it. Tsuwabuki and Kylia shot towards Kira. Coutrend and Benedictus shot towards the man, who let out a brief burst of triumphant laughter, before a glowing sword pierced his chest, and a fire ball, issued by Coutrend, exploded in his face, and neither his expression could be seen nor his voice heard.

Hinata spun, releasing a spinning wall of chakra from every one of her tenketsu.

'Kaiten!'

The whirling chakra blasted the scythe out of Kira's way and into the far wall next to the pews. Tsuwabuki pulled Kira back towards the door, as Kylia stood in front, her weapons drawn. But even as Hinata finished the attack and came to a stop, something smacked her in the chest, issued with such force that she heaved a spray of blood from her mouth, and was thrown backwards. She struck the wall beside the door, making Kira cry out and Kylia whirl around in defense.

Benedictus and Coutrend spun as well, as something huge and black moved in front of them, barring their vision, faster than they could register, a mere shadow out of the corner of their eyes. It struck both of old men at once, hurtling them into the pews, which were scattered in disarray.

"Fuck, Kakuzu," the silver-haired man hissed, growling as he wiped the blood and charred skin from his face until only pulsing, bleeding muscle could be seen on his right cheek. He stood up, and with a flick of his wrist, pulled the scythe back to his grip with the chain. "I didn't think you'd be getting up anytime soon, though you might have been trying to teach me one of those 'lessons' of yours."

The man he spoke to—if he indeed was a man—seemed to ignore him, focusing his attention solely on Benedictus and Coutrend, who were getting slowly to their feet. Kakuzu wore a black cloak similar to the silver-haired man's, but it was done up completely to the high collar. Most of his face was obscured by a mask and hood, so that only his deep, discolored eyes were visible—like photo negatives, they were black with white pupils. His skin was somewhat dark, from what they could see of it, and across his head he wore a headband, but unlike the other man, his was a large downward pointing arrow, with a slash mark across it, carved by a crude weapon.

"Hey!" the silver-haired man said. The wounds on his face were almost healed, Benedictus vaguely noted. "Answer me when I fucking talk to you, moron!"

"Shut up, Hidan," said Kakuzu, calmly. His pale eyes were boring holes into Benedictus, as the ancient man wheezed and gasped for breath, clutching his wounded stomach.

Benedictus quickly glanced behind Kakuzu, though he was afraid to take his eyes off the man for even a moment—he had rarely seen somebody move so quickly. Behind him, Kira was helping Hinata to her feet, and healing the prodigious wound on her chest, while Kylia and Tsuwabuki guarded them both. Hinata was staring at the man wildly.

"You survived," said Benedictus, coughing. "I thought for sure that the girl had killed you—it must have struck your heart, did it not?"

"Perhaps," said Kakuzu. "Hidan, kill the girl. I'll deal with this one."

"Fuck no," snapped Hidan. "The Holy Light worshipper is mine. You can kill the kid."

"It would be unwise to underestimate this man," said Kakuzu. "Especially when it seems he has been researching your practice, you fool. I told you to clean up after yourself properly." He was staring at the scattered books and papers, and had seen the Jashin symbol that Kira had written down.

"I won't underestimate him," said Hidan. "Besides, you like killing kids, don't you?"

"Shut up," said Kakuzu. His eyes were constantly shifting, always as slowly and slightly as a glacier's yearly movement. They settled on Benedictus.

"For all your caution," said Benedictus, calmly, "your entrance was quite bold. How do you expect to keep this a secret?"

Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. "As one who is experienced in battle, you should know better than to ask that of your enemy, fool, just as you should be wary of talking to them as if we're in some sort of debate. You've already lost this fight."

So said, he moved. With blinding speed he crossed the room, appearing behind Kira and grabbing her by the head. Kira screamed, and tried to get free, as Kakuzu squeezed, her screams suddenly stopped.

There was a hideous crack, and Kira fell lifeless to the floor.

Benedictus roared, started forwards, but was forced back by Hidan's flying scythe. Hidan pressed forwards, rushing the old man with a look of insane glee on his face, drawing a small, black dagger from beneath his cloak and slashing it across Benedictus' robes. However, due to their volume, the blade was lost in the golden folds and didn't pierce his flesh, allowing Benedictus to throw all his weight forwards as the blade passed, slamming into Hidan's chest and throwing him back.

Coutrend moved in, brandishing a glimmering, clear short sword, forged of ice. He swung it at the off-balanced Hidan's head, but the man quickly ducked and rammed his dagger into Coutrend's stomach.

Coutrend gasped, shuddered, and dropped, as Hidan pulled away, leering as he licked the blade clean, and moved again towards Benedictus, whose wild eyes were solely fixed on Kira's body, lying still and misshapen on the floor.

No. No. No! That couldn't be—!

Kakuzu turned, issuing a loud curse. Tsuwabuki, by the man's feet, shot up and locked her mouth around his arm, biting as hard as she could, and raking her claws along his side. He swung her back against the wall, but she let ago and swung off, as Kakuzu threw a punch at Hinata's head, where she stood by the door. But the girl ducked beneath it, and smashed a hand into the Kakuzu's stomach. There was a flash of blue from the extraordinary amount of chakra pressed into her Jyuuken strike, but Kakuzu hardly flinched. Instead he made to grab Hinata's head, but again she dodged, moving backwards this time, as Kylia attacked Kakuzu from behind, with a frenzied, desperate cry.

She slashed her two daggers down, but instead of cutting Kakuzu's flesh, they were deflected off, with a metallic ring as if they had struck steel. Kakuzu swung around, striking the girl in the middle with a roundhouse kick, throwing her backwards into the wall opposite him.

Tsuwabuki attacked again. Opening her mouth, she issued a wailing bellow of compressed air that could've shattered stone. It knocked Kakuzu backwards, half a step, but the man quickly recovered and blurred in a frenzy of movement, snatching the fox up and throwing her across the room, into a shelve of books. She yelped as she struck and as the books fell on top of her.

Kakuzu growled, turning his attention away from the fox. "Come out, boy," he said aloud.

There was no response, and it seemed as if Kakuzu was talking to nothing but his imagination. Hinata, breathless and still wounded, kept her distance and waited for Kylia and Tsuwabuki to recover, which was slow as the girl had been hit quite hard, to the point where the stonewall had cracked at her meeting with it; and covered in heavy books, the fox was struggling to get up.

At the other end of the room, Benedictus had re-engaged battle with Hidan. Still clutching the dagger, and having reclaimed his scythe, the Jashin worshipper was slashing and thrusting, driving the old man back along the row of pews, and up against the wall. Benedictus had not yet counterattacked.

Only a third of his attention was on Hidan, and though every bit of him told him to rectify that, he could not help but stare at Coutrend's body, which still shuddered with escaping life, and Kira's twisted form; it drew his eyes like flame drew moths, and no matter how hard he tried to remove it from his mind, he could not. Horrible despair was welling up inside him, against his will, against all he had been trained to do. But with that despair came something else, which he gladly focused on the attacking Hidan, who was growing impatient with the old man's ability to dodge.

"Come on, old man! ATTACK!" He lowered his weapons, and flung all his weight forwards; but like water slipping through the smallest of cracks in a glass, Benedictus slipped aside, and made a hand seal as Hidan smacked into the wall.

'Gleaming Light'

Beams of golden light coalesced around Benedictus, then shot simultaneously straight at Hidan, striking him up and down his legs, back and even through his head. The beams remained driven into Hidan's flesh, like spears, searing coin-sized holes in Hidan's body that began to bleed profusely, running into a pool at his feet. Hidan shuddered and coughed, but remained standing.

Benedictus couldn't see his face, as it was nestled against the wall. But staring at the shuddering man, he appeared less in pain, and more in ecstasy.

Kakuzu set his eyes on Hinata for the time being.

"Boy, you have lost the element of surprise. I know full well that that is not her body."

Again, silence. While Kylia gazed at Kakuzu's back, and then at Kira's body, in hopeful confusion, Hinata kept her eyes straight on Kakuzu. There was something wrong with him. She could see it, or at least she thought she could. The man's chakra system was different, beyond anything she had ever seen. It coiled in places that it shouldn't have, and gathered in portions that had no relevant organs. Worst of all, she now knew why her Jyuuken attacks had not affected him in the slightest.

It moved.

His chakra system moved, writhing like a mass of snakes, slithering away from her attacks just as she made them, so that she hit nothing but flesh, which halved the damage of her attack. But if he could move his system, it meant that he could move his organs also, or else she would still injure him.

But how was that possible?

She had little time to consider it, however. The man was quick, and quite obviously knowledgeable of her ability; otherwise he wouldn't know that he had to move his chakra system. The headband told him that he was from the Hidden Waterfall, and the cloak, too, told her that both of them belonged to the shinobi world.

They were Akatsuki.

Which meant that Akatsuki had killed Magni, and had likely been responsible for the Ravenholdt massacre, too. She didn't know why. Why would a shinobi organization concern itself with the affairs of this world, regardless of whether they had prior knowledge of it? What was their purpose for this?

Her mind raced through these thoughts as she watched the man, who stood stock still, his eyes staring straight forwards. They didn't stare into hers, thankfully, but somewhere slightly behind her. She could see him, too, but didn't want to give that away. But he had to act, or his chance would be ruined.

So she decided to help.

She took a stance by bending her knees and setting her legs far apart, taking a deep breath and staring straight at Kakuzu. Her movement did not go unnoticed, and he shifted his eyes very slightly to look directly at her, and that's when she moved.

'Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho'

She spun, but this time instead of a wall of chakra being produced, thin beams ofchakra, no bigger than needles, erupted from her body, hurtling forwards in a deadly cloud that resembled a cloud of cherry blossoms blown by a violent wind. Each blade was strong enough to tear steel, and flew faster than an arrow.

Kakuzu moved, quick as lightning striking, and dodged the streams of chakra by leaping to the side just so that Hinata's cloud passed by his body by no more than an inch, and then streaked towards her with the same infernal speed. Hinata backpedaled, catching sight of something going up Kakuzu's arm—creeping along his flesh was a dark film, making his arm change from a light brown to a dark grey—as Kylia, in the direct path of Hinata's attack, leapt to the side to where Tsuwabuki stood, shaking. Kakuzu didn't stop advancing, and lifted his hand to deal a fatal blow to Hinata, just as Shino decided that there was no better time to act than now.

Kira's body burst in a black cloud, and from the window behind Hinata, a black swarm of buzzing insects erupted, shooting in four rod-like streams around Hinata and engulfing Kakuzu's arms and legs. Shino appeared a second later, leaping through the window and landing without a sound behind Hinata. They both dove to the side, for Kakuzu had not even stopped to notice the bugs feasting on his limbs. The giant turned, growling in annoyance, as Hinata and Shino moved away from him, back towards the middle of the room, where they were soon joined by Kylia and Tsuwabuki.

"Where's Lady Kira?" Kylia asked.

"Safe," said Shino, calmly.

"What happened to Kiba and Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked, gasping for breath, having expended a sizeable amount of chakra in her failed attack.

"They are injured, but safe as well," said Shino.

Above the buzzing, Kakuzu heard this. "Oh? So they aren't dead, then? I thought for sure I had stomped in that woman's head. Perhaps a Kawarimi took me by surprise."

Behind them, Benedictus waited as Hidan attempted to remove himself from the spears, his despair and ire gradually decreasing as Kira's assured safety washed over him. A dozen prayers ran through his mind, and as his mind cleared, he addressed Shino.

"Why hasn't the alarm been raised?"

Shino's answer was surprisingly calm.

"They are all dead."

"It must be raised," said Benedictus. "I need someone to do that, now."

"You're joking," said Kakuzu. "That won't be possible."

"Oh?" said Benedictus. "Why not?"

"I will not allow any of you to leave," said Kakuzu, "and even so, I have killed every guard in this castle, and the outposts beyond it. It will take over half an hour for the others to notice, by which time you will all be dead, and the blame diverted. We have already planted the necessary information. It just awaits discovery." He began casually brushing the destruction bugs off his arms, as if they were just flies.

"Yeah," grinned Hidan, turning around and revealing his hideously malformed visage, drenched in blood. "You guys are dead—especially you, old man. I'm going to get a hell of a lot of pleasure gutting a heathen like you, like I did your buddy over there," he said, licking his lips, and pointed at Coutrend.

Benedictus' eyes shifted briefly. Coutrend was dead, and though Benedictus could feel it— the despair of another lost friend—it was not as fierce as before. He would not be joining the archivist right now.

"So," grinned Hidan. "How about we begin round two?"

Kakuzu very slowly nodded. "Don't die, Hidan."

"Shut the fuck up, Mr. Fucking Hilarious."

Sasuke flew forwards. Naruto held his ground. Sasuke's blade—long, thin, slightly curved—a perfect katana, given to him by Orochimaru—flickered like a striking snake, moving towards Naruto's shoulders and head.

Naruto was completely stunned by the target area, and affronted. His eyes grew wide when Sasuke's blade whistled by his head, slicing a thin gash in his cheek, drawing blood.

Sasuke used this advantage. He pressed forwards, seeing Naruto's moves laid out before him, as if they had already happened. He saw every move Naruto was going to make in the next few seconds. The boy was making it easy, in his astonishment of Sasuke's attack, which was clearly directed towards taking his life. Sasuke feinted low, and then sliced up high.

But Naruto's blade was there, as if by magic, to meet it.

But at the last second, Sasuke's tactics changed. He ran a current ofchakra through his weapon.

'Chidori Nagashi'

A bolt of purplish electricity crackled along the length of Sasuke's blade, as it struck Naruto's. Regardless of whether Naruto was clutching a wooden hilt or not, the electricity should have struck him, entirely created and fueled by chakra as it was. That was the beauty of the attack—other than dodging, it had no defense. It could even travel through solid chakra of any sort.

But even as it struck, and the lightning crackled in a flurry of purplish sparks, Naruto didn't drop his sword in anguish, or even appear bothered by it. Instead, the boy thrust Sasuke's blade off, gave an enraged cry, and slammed the flat of the blade into Sasuke's right arm, where it discharged the stored up electricity into Sasuke's body.

Though every nerve fiber in Sasuke's body was as effectively useless as if it had been entirely frostbitten (which was not so far from the truth), Sasuke still felt the jolt of electricity in his body through the sudden failing of his limbs. He dropped back, and Naruto came forwards, driving a dozen kicks into his chest.

Sasuke flew backwards. Naruto attacked again, summoning clones.

Bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard! Naruto roared in his head, and then aloud, as his clones converged on Sasuke. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe this was happening. Sasuke, Sasuke couldn't bethis! He couldn't be! Sasuke would never stoop so low, so disgustingly degraded to the point where he could give up his humanity just to…

'Naruto Rendan!'

His clones kicked Sasuke upwards, throwing him into the air. Naruto jumped off the back of his clone, and propelled himself up with an extra burst of speed, using air-grasping, and did a flip in mid-air. Sasuke stared at him the whole time.

Naruto roared in fury. "BASTARD!"

He brought his leg down in a bone-breaking axe-kick, slamming into Sasuke's middle and throwing him like a meteor to the earth, where he landed in a crater of dirt and rock, amidst the constantly moving green fog of Plague. Naruto jettisoned himself back, usingair-grasping, and landed a save distance away from the Plague veil.

Sasuke had already gotten to his feet. Despite the jarring force and the amazing power of Naruto's kicks, he had hardly felt a thing. He flexed his body a few times, making it crack obscenely. He kicked his sword up into his hand, all the while staring straight at Naruto.

"Why the hell did you do this, Sasuke?" Naruto said, through grit teeth, his entire body shaking with built up rage. "Why?"

Sasuke cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean your fucking humanity!" Naruto screamed. "Why'd you give it up? For power? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"That should be obvious, Naruto."

"It isn't," Naruto said, growling. "How stupid are you?"

"Obviously not as much as you," said Sasuke. He made a few seals, which Naruto recognized and quickly began to match, as Sasuke's hand plummeted to the ground.

'Kuchiyose no jutsu: Abomination'

Naruto's fell a second later.

'Kuchiyose no jutsu: Undercity Guardian'

There were two explosions of smoke—and from one of noxious green emerged an abomination, complete with its three hideous weapons—a hook and chain, a butcher's cleaver, and a grossly enlarged meat-tenderizer—and its hideous patchwork skin and exposed insides, which hung like drapes from the cavity in its stomach, large enough to fit two men easily inside. From the other smoke, which was pure white, emerged a beast almost identical; although this one was the color of moldy cheese and its insides were bright, neon green. Instead of a meat-tenderizer, it had a huge, misshapen claw instead, with four long talons dripping with gore.

Sasuke's look did not change.

"OI,"the Undercity Guardian rumbled, staring blearily around. "THOUGHT HAD DUTY…HEHE…DUTY. FUNNY WORD."

In spite of his anger, Naruto found time to be exasperated as well. Why was everything he summoned stupid, mean or just annoying?

"You do!" Naruto shouted, causing the beast to half turn. "No don't turn! Kill that thing in front of you!"

The guardian turned back, focusing blearily on the abomination, which was already lumbering forwards. The guardian gave a burbling laugh.

"BAD,"it said. "YOU'RE BAD."

The abomination did not say anything, instead raising its meat cleaver and bellowing unintelligibly. The Undercity Guardian moved to meet it, roaring "bad" constantly, and slamming its full weight into the creature, which was no smaller than itself. Their third arms, attached to their backs, dug their respective hooks into their bodies, while the Undercity Guardian's claw bit into the abomination's back, and held it fast.

As they grappled, Sasuke moved. Around the fighting abominations, he made a beeline for Naruto, who had already finished another summon.

'Kuchiyose no jutsu: Forsaken'

From the blast of smoke, a crowd of zombies emerged, but they were not the same as the ones that followed behind Sasuke. They were entirely clothed, and looked completely alert, though they made no sound or protest at Naruto's summon, which was odd, until Naruto remembered what Sylvanas had told her about the summoning contract, when he had first made it. Only her fallen warriors were included in it, only those who had given their un-lives in her service were honored with it. These were dead Forsaken, given back their chance to fight.

"Distract him!" Naruto shouted.

They did. Two of them bull-rushed the oncoming boy, who blurred around them, slicing off their heads. But as soon as he was past them, the four that remained attacked. Two came forwards, circling around Sasuke. The other two sucked in gales of air and exhaled them in two enormous blasts of white-hot fire.

'Pyroblast'

The blasts engulfed Sasuke, or would have, had he not leapt into the air. The two other Forsaken followed, leaping up from behind and attacking with daggers. Sasuke spun, cleaving one apart and knocking the other back with a strike to its defending blades. He landed, but the mage Forsaken attacked again, this time with small bursts of flame that flew as fast as arrows, and were almost as large.

But his Sharingan saw it all, and he dodged without effort, weaving and ducking between each fireball with but inches to spare. He went towards the mage Forsaken, but was caught from behind by Naruto, who drove the butt of his blade into Sasuke's armpit, and then swung around and roundhouse-kicked him in the face. Sasuke was hurtled back, straight into the side of his abomination summon, which turned at the sudden attack, opening itself up to having its head cleaved in half by Naruto's Undercity Guardian.

Sasuke recovered quickly, and launched himself at Naruto, as his abomination fell back and was quickly torn apart by the Undercity Guardian.

Naruto defended the first strike with his blade, but Sasuke's next attack came much quicker, and was thrown with much more ferocity than before, that he was unable to do much more than defend.

'Kongou'

His muscles hardened, through constant training and a clever manipulation of chakra, but it was not enough. Sasuke's blade struck Naruto's side, and resisted only a second before it cut into flesh and muscle. Naruto threw himself along with the attack, propelling him away, but in the process tearing away a sizeable portion of flesh. Pain blew a hole in Naruto's defense, and he found himself unable to think coherently, much less react, for a moment longer. Sasuke turned, raising the blade.

'Mana Shield'

'Fire Blast'

"I SMASH!"

A bluish dome leapt up around Naruto, delaying the blade's progress for a few seconds, allowing Naruto to jump back, just as a rolling stream of fire billowed past him, towards Sasuke. Sasuke dodged to the side, at the same time trying to avoid Naruto's Undercity Guardian, which had disentangled itself from its dead opponent, and was swiping at Sasuke with its deformed talons. The giant patchwork of skin and bone hurtled its chain at Sasuke, which he cut in two, and then he raised a hand, and without forming any seals, something huge and black erupted from his hands.

'Chidori Katana'

Black lightning—that's all that Naruto could say it was—coalesced around Sasuke's hand. He gripped it like he did his sword and it extended in a burst of movement fast enough to match a bullet, piercing the Undercity Guardian in the chest. He slashed to the side, and the beast was cut in two, roaring in alarm. He made a few more effortlessly slight movements, slicing the top half of the beast into smaller pieces, and then move his black blade in a horizontal swiping motion, towards the two Forsaken summons.

Naruto clasped his hands, and they were dispelled in a burst of smoke before Sasuke could hit them. Naruto made a few seals, then, and sucked in a huge breath, exhaling a massive blast of fire, enough to engulf a small cottage.

'Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu'

The blast was cut in two, almost immediately, by Sasuke's lengthy black blade, but Naruto hadn't intended such a bulky attack to connect. Instead, he flashed to the side, ignoring the growing pain in his side, moving faster than the eye could see, even if that eye was theSharingan.

Sasuke saw it, just barely, and moved, but Naruto's attack connected anyways.

'Katon; Kaenhira'

Naruto's open palm struck Sasuke in the side, creating a bang like a gunshot and a brilliant white flash. Sasuke was blasted into the fog, which had continued its dreadful course the entire fight.

They had neared the beach.

"You fucking idiot," Naruto raged, backing steadily away again. "You stupid, stupid bastard! How could you do that? I thought…" Naruto's anger shortly vanished. It was replaced by a sort of lost, longing emptiness, the kind you get when remembering a long dead friend or relative, very close to you. He was right in front of Naruto, but he still seemed so far away.

The blast had been powerful, but not strong enough to kill, or even seriously injure Sasuke, that much Naruto knew. Indeed, Sasuke was standing almost a second later, even as smoke continued to steadily rise from the scorched area of skin. Sasuke's eyes registered no pain, but they had clouded somewhat, further increasing the metaphysical gap between them.

"Aren't you going to fight me properly?" Naruto snarled. "Bastard?"

Done!

Finally!

Sorry that took a little longer than I said it would. But you deserve more of an explanation for why I'm so late in general, so here's what happened between the last two chapters.

I got a girlfriend, and then broke up with her. I was loaded down with essays, labs, and tons of reading that comes with University life. I had a birthday. I've been writing for a short story contest, which took up my free writing time.

That's the gist. I don't want to bore you, as this isn't a Livejournal blog where I can rant my heart out, but in any case, now you know why I was so late with the last update. I am very sorry, and I don't hope to make that mistake again, though I can't guarantee it.

That said, I would like to thank you all for the good reviews for the previous chapter, they were very helpful. Please keep it up, everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to see you very soon again. I will work on the chapter as often as I can, so as not to keep you all in suspense.

See you all later!

General Grievous

Scroll of Seals

Katon: Kaenhira

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu

Kongou

Kazaashi

Chidori Katana (One Thousand Birds Katana): Creates a sword of electric chakra.

Chidori Nagashi (One Thousand Birds Current): Creates a current of electric chakra, can travel through weapons and even the air itself, if necessary.

Kuchiyose no jutsu: Forsaken (Summoning Technique: Forsaken): Summons the fallen minions of Sylvanas, who can perform the techniques they did in life, making them far deadlier than the Scourge summons of the Lich King.

Kuchiyose: Scourge: Summons Scourge, mostly mindless ghouls and zombies, but also the Undead Plague itself accompanies this summon.

Kuchiyose: Abomination/Undercity Guardian

Shugohakke Rokujyon Sho (Protection of the Eight Trigrams): Releases up to thousands of energy blades.

Gleaming LightReleases spears of golden light that fly at an incredibly quick rate.

Jashin Curse of Immortality: Unknown cause, gives user immortality.

Bingo Book:

Hidan (Missing-Nin: Graveyard)(Boss)(S-Class): Data unknown.

Kakuzu (Missing-Nin: Waterfall)(Boss)(S-Class): Data unknown.

Uchiha Sasuke (Undead)(Boss)

Jugo (Humanoid/Undead)(Boss)

Karen (Humanoid/Undead)(Boss)

Suigetsu (Humanoid/Undead/Elemental)(Boss)